Fostering Circular Economy in Urban Areas

Abstract

The 21st century is an urban world. Strategies that aim to tackle the urban material challenge and promote circular economy are necessary to achieve sustainable development. Having established the importance of circular economy towards sustainable development, this study presents applicable strategies to reduce consumption and promote circularity specifically in urban centers. Main strategies may be categorized into three areas: reducing material use through better design, efficient manufacturing and processing, and more intensive recycling. For materials use reduction, dematerialization, appropriate design based on product service lifetime, design for X principles and extended producer responsibility are identified as prominent design approaches or policies. For effective manufacturing and processing, the implementation of best available technologies and additive manufacturing were identified to have potential significant impact. For end-of-life phase management, differences between upcycling, recycling, and downcycling require targeted industry-specific policies.